


Forget Me Not

by MissDrarryDawn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blackmail, M/M, curse, memoryloss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 09:50:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissDrarryDawn/pseuds/MissDrarryDawn
Summary: Harry takes a curse that maims his memories, resulting in him completely forgetting who Draco Malfoy is. Everything about him is unknown to Harry. All he knows is that Draco most definitely doesn't like him one bit, and that the blonde is not afraid to let him know that. Luckily, the damage isn't permanent, and when Harry remembers everything a few days later, he is clueless about everything that's been going on. Especially considering there was a much darker plot brewing that Harry had no idea about until he was, quite literally, dragged into it.//Completed//Word count: 11.7k





	Forget Me Not

**Author's Note:**

> hi! so. i've never done this before. like this kind of has a plot? but not? i don't know. i've never written this type of fic before, but i'm trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and experiment with new ideas, so that's why i wrote this. i'd just like to warn you ahead of time: i *suck* at writing action/fight scenes/fast paced scenes, and well, i'm sure it shows. anyways, any feedback/advice/criticism is welcome, because i want to improve! as always, i hope you enjoy reading!

"Who are you?" Harry asked, staring dumbly at the tall blonde man standing next to his bed.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Potter?" The blonde had snapped, and Harry recoiled.

"I don't remember you.." He muttered into his shirt, not willing to look up at the man.

"Oh for the _love _of--" The other snipped, sighing, his hand coming up to cradle his head. "What _do_ you remember then?" His tone was impatient, and Harry wished he could remember who he was, if just to stop the verbal assault.

"I remember I was on a mission with someone, and then I took some curse for them." Harry muttered. He could remember anything else just fine, but when it came to the snappy blonde, he drew blanks. He couldn't even remember the guy's name.

"That someone was _me_, Potter." He drawled, resting one hand on his hips while he sneered down at Harry.

"Oh, okay. What's your name?" Harry asked, very reluctant to say anything after how his questions were greeted last time. He expected another snide comment, but the blonde just shook his head:

"I'm Draco Malfoy. Your partner. _Work_ partner, mind you." He clarified, and Harry almost smiled at that unnecessary explanation. Harry wouldn't expect them to be partners in anything else.

"Right. Draco, you say." He spoke, testing out the name. It _felt _familiar, sure enough, but it was pointless when any previous memory Draco might have been in existed in his mind, sans the blonde himself.

"Merlin, _no._ You always use my last name." The blonde seemed revolted. Harry shrugged:

"Why?" 

"Because we don't like each other. At all." 

Harry finally turned his head to quirk an unamused eyebrow at the other:

"And yet I took a curse for you. Surely I like you _a little._" 

A deep scowl etched into the pale skin. The man shook his head again:

"You only did that out of your blasted _Gryffindorness_.."

Harry rolled his eyes:

"So you were in Slytherin then. Duly noted." 

One incredulous look later, Harry was the one to snip this time:

"Don't give me that look. Your natural _distaste_ for Gryffindor and all things Gryffindor are _dead_ giveaways to what house you were in." 

"For the first time in your life, you're right. And I can not _believe_ I just agreed with you." The blonde rolled his eyes, and stepped away from the bed. "You'll be discharged in a few days. Don't come in late to work, like you always do." He left the room.

Harry sat up in bed, his face wrought up in thought. Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. _Draco Malfoy._ Nope. His visage was nowhere in any of Harry's memories. He meticulously carded through everything that's happened to him since he came to Hogwarts, but the blonde head was nowhere to be found. He remembered begging not to be sorted into Slytherin, but he couldn't place why. Was it because of Draco? Or did something else happen? Bloody hell. All of his memories felt so empty and incomplete now that he was painfully aware that there was something missing. _Someone_. A blonde arsehole. From the sheer hostility wafting off the man, Harry assumed they had a long history. And that it wasn't pretty. His head was starting to hurt.

~

"You IMBECILE!" Pansy shrieked at the top of her lungs, shaking Draco's shoulders. "You absolute waste of space, you, you---you IDIOT!" She was shaking with rage, and Draco stood there and took it. He knew better than to attempt to interrupt an angry, raging Pansy. 

"_WHY_ did you do that?!" She seemed on the verge of enraged tears. Draco didn't say anything, because he was aware Pansy didn't want answers at the moment, she wanted to rage, and Draco better let her, or else he'd be in _massive_ trouble. 

"HOW COULD YOU--Oh my God, Draco, sometimes I don't understand you at all! Why in the hell would you _lie_ to him?" She let go of him, shoving him away, choosing to pace the room instead of attempting to shake some common sense into him.

~

"Mate! Are you okay?!" Ron had asked as soon as he entered Harry's room, Hermione in tow. Both were pallid, and Harry smiled at them.

"Yeah, guys I'm fine. It seems I've lost some of my memories though.." He mused, and Hermione sucked in a breath through her teeth.

"You have? For real?" Ron asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't remember anything about Draco, err, Malfoy? I don't know. He told me I always use his last name?" Harry rubbed his neck. He wasn't sure anymore.

He didn't miss the way Hermione and Ron had exchanged worried looks.

"Err..yeah, you do." Hermione nodded quickly, and Harry could tell the gears of her mind were turning. She elbowed Ron as subtly as she could manage, which wasn't much considering even Harry had noticed it.

"Yeah, mate. You two don't really like each other much." Ron nodded quickly, swallowing whatever he would've said.

Harry eyed them suspiciously for a moment, but he dropped it.

~

Pansy was white as chalk by the time Draco was done talking. 

His words were ringing in her ears loudly, a tidal wave of horror crashing over her head.

"Draco, what will you do?" She murmured. He shook his head, another tear slipping from his slate gray eyes:

"I don't have another choice."

~

His Healer told Harry that he should be regaining his memories in a few days, and he was discharged a day later. Harry was cleared to return to work, as there was no significant damage done to him on account of the curse. He kept quiet about not remembering Draco, err, Malfoy, because he needed to talk to the blonde man some more, and he gathered he could only do that at work. 

Ron and Hermione had been giving him odd, worried glances every now and then, and it was ticking him off, but they kept their lips sealed.

~

"What the _hell, _Malfoy?" Ron bellowed, storming into Draco's office, Hermione in tow. She didn't look furious like her husband, she seemed more worried and curious. Draco knew what they were here to discuss, and his heart clenched.

"I have a good reason Weasley." Draco asserted, trying to goad the redhead into calming down. 

"I'm sure you do. Why?" Hermione asked, having always been the more level-headed one, sitting down in front of Draco's desk and pulling Ron down with her. 

The blonde sighed, and divulged everything to them, their demeanors rapidly changing as they listened.

~

"Malfoy." Harry greeted when he returned to work, five minutes early, just to spite the blonde git. He didn't even glance Harry's way. 

"Malfoy!" Harry snapped louder, and he could see the man roll his eyes before slowly looking up.

"Yes, Potter?" 

"Do we know each other from school? I assume we do, and that we weren't on good terms." Harry said, glaring. To his surprise, a soft chuckle left Malfoy, and Harry felt _something_ familiar strike him in that chuckle, if only he could remember _what_.

"That, my dear Potter, is the understatement of a lifetime. We attempted to murder each other once or twice." 

Harry paled. _WHAT? _At his growing panic, he got another snort:

"Well alright. Maybe not _murder_ outright, but horribly maim _at least_. You certainly almost did me in when we were 16. In the bloody girl's bathroom no less."

Harry felt a lump grow in his throat. He opened his mouth to speak, but Malfoy held a hand up to stop him:

"You've apologized millions of times, and it has only gotten _more_ annoying. Don't bother." 

Harry closed his mouth and nodded, walking to his desk in a stumped silence. They hated each other _that_ badly, huh? He couldn't believe it. That he'd ever hate anyone enough to nearly _kill_ them. 

A small box on his desk snapped him out of his thoughts. He furrowed his brows at it, and reached out to pick it up. Upon opening it, he gasped at finding an engagement ring inside. He had a significant other? He was going to propose to them? Harry straightened up and turned to Malfoy again, clutching the open box.

"What's this?" He asked, and held it out for the blonde to see. And for the first time since their conversation in the hospital, Harry saw something other than a sneer grace his face. His cheeks lost color quickly and he looked very, _very_ broken all of a sudden while he stared down at the small box Harry was presenting.

"I'm dating someone? I was going to propose? I can't remember anyone like that in my life. Perhaps the curse did more harm than we thought.." Harry trailed off, closing the box and moving it away from Malfoy, whose eyes still stared unblinking at it. He suddenly cleared his throat:

"I wouldn't know Potter. I don't dawdle into your personal life, nor have I ever had a particular interest in it. Ask your friends, maybe they can tell you." 

And the scathing looks and sneers were back. Just like that.

Harry bit his lip, feeling completely confused and debaunched.

~

"How could you do that to him Malfoy?" Ron seethed, attempting to keep his voice down so no one loitering outside would hear them talk. Hermione had cast a Silencing charm, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Ron, weren't you listening? He didn't have a choice!" Hermione tutted, eyes flitting over Draco, who was proud for not breaking down a second time.

"Yes, he bloody well did. He's a goddamn Auror! There were so many other things he could have done!" Ron argued.

"No, Weasley, there weren't. Aurors have to go into cases with their partners, and I couldn't exactly involve Harry now could I?" Draco cut in, voice harsher than he'd intended.

The redhead leaned back in his chair, running his hands over his face:

"So let me get this straight. Blackmail."

Draco nodded, a sigh shuttering out of him.

"And now, you're acting like that prat you were back in Hogwarts, hoping to achieve _what_ exactly? Harry will remember everything in a few days." 

Draco bit his lip:

"I'm hoping that when he remembers, he'll have enough reason to _leave_." 

A dry sob racked out of Hermione:

"How can you even be sure that it was _real_?" She asked.

"Because they showed me photographs. They have _everything_ Hermione. Everything from the war." 

"What does that mean?" Ron seethed, hands balling into fists at his sides.

"It _means_, that someone had tracked Harry through the war, and snapped photos of everything that was done, the Order, the Horcruxes, what Umbridge did to Harry, the Hallows, even a few of _us. _Sensitive information that _no one_ outside of Hogwarts is supposed to know. The general public, Weasley. Things sworn to be kept secret forever." Draco rubbed his temples.

"Why wait until now to use it though?" Ron asked, brows furrowed. If they wanted to blackmail Harry with all of that, they could have done _so_ much sooner.

"It's a cruel game. It's been five years since the war, Harry has just started to wind down, let go of the past, settle. He is finally _happy_, and what better revenge is there than to rip all that right from underneath him? Sure, killing him or torturing him would be the methods we'd have expected from escaped Death Eaters, but those things are relatively quick. Harry would have died and that would have been it. This way, the consequences are lasting, _permanent_. This way, it would destroy Harry slowly and painfully. That's the whole point isn't it?" Hermione spoke, tone sullen and heavy with dread.

Draco nodded, a fresh wave of tears overcoming him.

"Especially if everything got out, and all the press was back on him again. You know how miserable he was, Weasley. After we came out. You remember how close to snapping he was." The blonde ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it incessantly.

Ron looked as if he was going to be sick:

"Surely we can stop them somehow. There...there _has_ to be another way. Malfoy I don't think you understand how much Harry _loves_ you. He won't leave you because of a few snappy remarks." 

Draco looked away, shoulders slouching:

"I don't think either of you understand how much I _love_ him. I can't let this happen to him." 

Ron shook his head stubbornly:

"No, Draco. _No!_ There's got to be a way to find those bastards. There..there just _has_ to! Do you remember anything, any clues, leads, anything at all! Come on, Malfoy, you're an Auror, for Merlin's sake!"

~

"Potter?" 

A soft female voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts. He'd went to the cafeteria to grab some coffee, and seemed to have gotten lost in thought. He turned and saw a woman in cursebreaker robes, with black hair and sharp face facing him. 

"Yes Parkinson?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"About Draco..he.." She trailed off. Harry felt his face scrunch up at the mention of the blonde.

"He's an arse is what he is. Ever since I woke up, all he's done is insult me. Non fucking stop."

Pansy bit her lip. She braced herself:

"What do you remember about him?"

Harry shook his head, almost spilling his coffee everywhere.

"I don't remember anything. I don't remember how we met, any conversation we had, I don't remember almost killing him in a bathroom, _nothing._ I didn't even know his name when I woke up."

"Right." She nodded, looking thoughtful. "It's not what it looks like, Potter. Trust me." She finally spoke, voice clear cut.

"What isn't?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"You and him. It's not what it looks like right now. You'll remember soon enough."

~

"Oh how lovely that you've decided to grace us with your _holy_ presence, _saint Potter._"

As soon as Harry stepped into their office after that very weird exchange with Parkinson, a sneer was spat his way. Harry placed the cup of coffee on his table a bit too roughly, some of it spilling out onto his hand. He rounded on Malfoy.

"Why? Why do you want to make me miserable Malfoy?" He hissed, helplessly irritated.

"Because I hate you. I've hated you since I was 11, and that certainly hasn't changed now." 

Harry deflated.

"Why were you lying to me? Parkinson came up to me just now. She said things with you and me aren't what they look like right now. What the fuck is going on Malfoy? I'll remember everything in a few days anyways, and I really don't see what the point of playing this little game is." 

Malfoy rolled his eyes and balled his hands into fists:

"When you remember, I want you to stay as far away from me as possible. I want you _gone. _I want you to leave me alone. _For good._ I don't care what Pansy told you." His voice cracked at the end, and Harry flinched as if punched.

"Fine." The raven sighed, turning away and slouching into his chair to sulk.

~

"Draco." Pansy tried, but she knew she couldn't mollify him. He was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably, and she felt tears streak her own cheeks too.

"He was going to _propose_, Pans." The blonde repeated over and over as he sobbed his miserable heart out into her shoulder. When Draco had first told her this, she felt as if she'd swallowed a bucket of ice. If she ever got her hands on whoever was blackmailing Draco into doing this, she'd _gladly_ land herself in Azkaban, she was certain.

"I'm so sorry love. I'm so fucking sorry." She muttered over and over again, hugging him close, though she knew it wasn't much comfort. The one person that could help him, was the one person he had to steer clear of.

~

"Draco, this must have been pre-planned." Hermione barged in without any pretense, and Draco glanced up at her, barely registering what she'd said. He nodded, and swallowed thickly:

"Yes. I think it was created as some sort of Plan B in case Voldemort fell. To have something to use against Harry, something to gain leverage with. Which is _exactly_ what ended up happening."

"Why you though?" Hermione muttered, sitting down, charming the door locked and silenced.

"Us coming out just made it _easier._ They picked me because they knew they wouldn't be able to make you or Ronald comply. They knew you'd take that risk before abandoning Harry. They knew I wouldn't. I wouldn't take _any_ risks on his well-being. It made most sense for it to be me." 

Hermione shuddered. 

"Do you remember anything else? _Anything_?" She was begging, and despite his best efforts, Draco couldn't. He'd already reported to Weasley everything he could remember about that night, and now, there was nothing more to give.

"Why would they even curse Harry though? They had you, what good do they get out of cursing Harry additionally?" She suddenly asked, rubbing her eyes. "And only erasing you from his memories? Wouldn't that have done all the work they wanted you to do for you?"

Draco leaned back and pursed his lips.

"I think that was just an unlucky coincidence. I think they were aiming for me, in case I saw anything suspicious or revealing, but Harry being the fool he is, took it for me. I think that the reason I'm the only one he's forgotten is because I'm the last person he saw before getting hit. It's very likely they were backtracking to make sure to cover their traces well enough, by erasing all my memories of that night, so I couldn't attempt anything. It turned out to be a very unlucky coincidence though."

"_Fuck._" Hermione hissed, and that was a shock. Hermione never swore, in fact, her doing so was a clear sign of a lot of distress. Draco could emphathize.

"He was going to propose." Draco's voice cut through the silence like a knife. He saw Hermione close in on herself as she shook her head.

"He found a ring on his desk, and asked me if I knew anything about it. He was going to propose.." Draco muttered, remembering the beautiful ring, and how his world seemed to crumble around him for the second time in a few months.

"Bloody hell." The girl murmured, tugging on her long frizzy hair. A tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away, her expression hardening: "We'll find them, and when we do, I'm going to make sure they regret they were ever _born_." Her voice dropped into a dangerous low growl.

~

Harry screamed.

He screamed as he felt a sudden crack of immense pain split his skull open. It felt like molten lava was being poured directly onto his mind, searing it and burning away all of his sanity. He collapsed to the floor of his living room, clutching at his head desperately, the unwavering _pain_ not relenting for a moment. He cried out again, helpless for anything else to do except convulse and twitch on the cold floor, marring it with tears and spit while his head pounded. He felt as if his skull would give out from the immense pressure, as if it would collapse into fine dust any moment now. 

It felt like hours before the pain _finally_ stopped. Harry could finally take a full breath, and he tasted blood in his mouth. He'd bitten his tongue at one point it seemed. He didn't feel it. As he slowly sat up, wiping the blood and spit off his lips, he froze as he realized something.

_I remember._

~

"Draco?" Harry walked into their office, terrified out of his mind about what kind of conversation they were about to have.

He saw how terrible he looked. Pale, hair a mess, eyes red-rimmed. Harry felt a dull ache reverberate through his chest. He wished to go to Draco, hug him, kiss him, but he refrained. He couldn't shake Draco's venom filled words from a few days ago.

_I want you gone._

"I remembered." He whispered, the blonde snapping up to stare at him wide eyed with alarming speed.

_For good._

Harry took a tentative step towards his love, stopping to stand at his desk, eyes swimming with worry. "Draco, what's wrong?" 

_I want you to stay as far away from me as possible._

"Did I do something wrong? Please talk to me love..." Harry begged, moving around the desk to kneel besides Draco's chair, staring up at the still silent man. He felt his heart tearing. "Say something.." He whispered, slowly placing one hand on Draco's knee.

"It's over Potter. This, _us_, it's over. I want you out of my life. I'll put in a request to reassign partners come next week. Don't bother talking to me about this after. Just stay away from me. I don't love you anymore." His voice was cold, unyielding, merciless.

And just like that, Harry fell apart.

~

"He remembered. I did what I had to." 

Pansy felt something heavy settle inside her stomach. Something so, _so_ heavy.

"Dray..." She murmured, pulling him down to sit next to her. They'd been living together ever since the war had ended, and Pansy had never been more glad to be constantly around. Draco was known for making some quite rash decisions when he was unstable. And he was unstable now, that much was obvious.

He didn't say anything, letting her handle him onto the couch and scoop him up in her arms.

~

Draco had put in a request to reassign his partner just like he said he would, and he didn't let himself glance Harry's way while he packed his things to clear the desk. He didn't let himself stare after Harry after he'd left, and he didn't let himself cry.

~

"I know where they are. I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!" Ron cried out in pure joy as he leapt from his chair and swept out of his office, running to Malfoy as fast as he could, gripping all of the papers tightly. He was trembling as he burst through the door, completely ignoring the new partner Malfoy had gotten. 

"I know where they are. I found them, Malfoy." He hashed out in a single breath, and in the next second Draco was up on his feet, nearly tripping over himself as he rushed with Ron to find Hermione.

~

Not even half an hour later, a group of three unlikely friends was hiding right outside the reach of the wards placed on an old abandoned warehouse concealed deep into the forest. They talked in hushed whispers, trying to find a way to break through without getting detected. They needed to be careful and get in and out quickly, hopefully dragging the heathen who'd done this out with them as well, or, at the very least, find and steal the photographs. The latter option was the more realistic one, seeing as they didn't know _how_ many people were in there. They all might be incredible with wands, but they couldn't take a large group at once.

"Even if we steal the photographs, surely they'll have copies? These photographs are very special after all, they had to have been smart enough to make a few copies at least." Hermione pointed out, and Draco was just about to brighten her day, when Ron beat him to it:

"Ah, but that's the trick. Destroy the originals, the copies are destroyed too. They can not exist without the originals."

Hermione's eyes flashed:

"Alright. How do we know which are the originals?" 

"Easy enough. Snatch them off of the main idiot." Draco snipped.

"Yes, Malfoy, but we need to _find_ the main idiot first. Which means going in there, with Merlin knows how many Death Eaters and other similar scum crawling all over the place. Err, no offense."

Draco was almost tempted to laugh:

"None taken, Weasel."

"Ron has a point. How are we going to go about this?" Hermione brought them back into the situation. They were huddled in the bushes, the wards pulsing just a few feet away. In the frenzy they were in when they left, they hadn't had time to come up with a proper plan. 

"It's a warehouse right? They have large vents to air out everything they store in there, so nothing rots or molds or such, right?" Draco asked, a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

"Brilliant. Now we just need to get to the vents?" Ron lifted his head to observe the entire warehouse. It was decrepit, but overall not very large or tall. As his blue eyes raked over the walls, they caught on something. A wicked smile overtook his face.

"Perfect." He breathed.

~

Harry stared up at his ceiling. The day Draco had...dumped...him he took the day off, unable to function. Once he'd apparated home, he ended up spending the first half an hour retching and throwing up. He felt _so_ sick. Everything hurt. His head, his heart, his stomach, it was all just burning fiercely. After throwing up he had cried and sobbed, begged for this all to be a cruel nightmare, begged to _wake up_, but of course, nothing of the sort happened. Since then, he's been bonelessly lying on his bed, staring at his ceiling. He felt so empty now. He knew it still hasn't sunk in. He knew soon it would all hit him over the head like a Bludger. He wanted to savor the few moments of hollow peace he had before that happened. 

The shrill shriek of his doorbell made him flinch. Who was it? What did they want? He flicked his wrist, unlocking the door for the person to come in. It didn't matter who it was. He heard the door open and click shut, he felt his wards righting themselves as they let this person through. Alright, so it was a friend then. He didn't have the strength to look over.

"Potter?" The woman called out. Parkinson.

"In here." He croaked out, throat ripped up and raw from all the screaming and heaving and sobbing. She walked into his room and approached him carefully. Sitting down on his bed, a few moments of silence rang out between them.

"Harry. I need to tell you _why_ Draco did what he did." She finally spoke, and that got her Harry's undivided attention. He sat up, eyes wide, though dull, waiting for her to continue. She did without any more stalling. 

She told him everything. _Everything_ since the night Draco had disappeared for a few hours, to a few days ago when she learned what was really happening. 

Harry listened, not once interrupting her. At one point, she'd started crying, but Harry didn't know how to comfort her, so he just patted her shoulder awkwardly for a moment, lost for words himself.

As her story concluded, Harry could feel himself trembling with rage. He could feel everything around him start shaking too as his magic pulsed inside his veins. If Parkinson noticed, she didn't say anything.

"Where?" He uttered. She gave him a distinctly Slytherin smirk.

"I put an undetectable tracking charm on Draco, because I had a suspicion something like this might happen. Come with me." 

That was all the convincing Harry needed.

_Oh when he got his hands on those scumbags, it wouldn't be pretty._

~

When Pansy and Harry had arrived to the spot, they searched the perimeter, carefully avoiding detection from the protective wards, and found a loose grate connecting to the vents. Fresh air was getting sucked in through and spread to the rest of the warehouse. The grate was loose and moved aside, and Harry knew that Draco must have already gotten here. They crawled through the grate, slipping through the wards trying to push them back with a few disilusionment charms and a few other clever ones specifically designed to break through wards without arising any suspicion. Courtesy of Pansy, who was keeping her wand between her lips as they crawled deeper into the vent system. It was softly glowing, indicating Draco was somewhere close. Either in the vents or below them.

"Parkinson, thank you so much." Harry murmured to her over his shoulders. She rolled her eyes but a smile tugged behind her wand. She took it out for a moment, so she could speak:

"I want Draco to be happy. You're his happiness. Seems like simple math to me, doesn't it?" 

Harry grinned sadly and nodded, continuing to make his way down the vent. He could see a turn coming up. Pansy's wand glowed brighter. They were close.

~

"Is that the boss?" Ron whispered, as they peered through the grate down into the semi lit room beyond the vent. They were very careful not to be heard, renewing charms over themselves constantly in a paranoid worry. Draco didn't know, but the guy was dressed like the leader. He was clad in pressed black robes, with a fucking cloak billowing behind him. The blonde's heart twisted when he remembered his godfather. 

"It has to be. He's giving orders, and no one dares look at him in the eyes." Hermione whispered, a shiver going down her spine.

"So what do we do? Crash through the vent and attack?" Ron asked, seeming to actually consider that idiotic idea for a moment. Draco raised his eyebrow at Hermione:

"Now you know what I dealt with back at Hogwarts." She muttered.

"We need to make sure we know where the photographs are first. If he doesn't have them on his person, we'd blow our cover too quickly." Draco kept an eye on the leader, searching him for any trace of those wretched photos.

"Then one of us can go down there and distract them while the other two search?" Ron suggested.

"That's...not that bad of an idea actually, Weasley." The blonde sounded mildly impressed and Ron murmured something under his breath that closely resembled 'git'. 

"Right. I'll do it. You two go back to the grate above that deserted hallway and good luck. I'll be just fine, don't worry, I survived eight years with Harry, this is a breeze, now _go._" Ron ushered them quickly, before he lost his nerve. They scrambled backwards, giving him space, and Ron muttered a charm to melt a hole through the grate.

Swallowing thickly, he tumbled himself through the grate with a loud yell, landing roughly right at the feet of the presumed boss. 

~

"Pansy! Do you hear that?" Harry snapped to attention immediately. Someone was yelling, very loudly. It was so familiar.

"Hear what Potter?" She murmured, straining her ears. Then Harry realized who it was screaming, and without a second's hesitation, started towards the sound, Pansy barely keeping up with him.

_Ron._

"Potter what are you--" She couldn't finish her sentence as Harry suddenly stopped crawling furiously, after making a few twists and turns that confused the hell out of her. The glow of her wand had diminished, meaning they'd gone in the complete opposite direction from Draco. Harry shushed her, and stared down through a melted grate, seeing his best friend writhing in pain on the floor. If the raven had to guess, he'd guess Crucio.

"That's Ron. We have to help him." He muttered to Pansy hurriedly, and she nodded once, before pulling him away from the opening, mindful of them being seen.

"Right. What's the plan Potter?" 

"I'll jump down, and you stay up here to cover for me. I'll get Ron and get him to you, and then you two go find Draco. I'll be fine." Harry prattled off the very mediocre plan he'd managed to come up with. 

"Potter, are you sure about this?" She asked, grabbing his forearm. He grinned recklessly at her:

"I killed Voldemort. What's this in comparison?" 

She sighed, and cast a Protego over him as he jumped downwards through the hole and started firing hexes immediately, startling the arseholes enough to give him a few seconds advantage. She kept shielding charms over him, gritting her teeth while she watched him use Levicorpus on Weasley, floating him up towards the vent, Pansy grabbed onto his robes and pulled the redhead up into the small space with her. She glanced at Potter once more, and he gave her the thumbs up. The girl released the shielding charms and half dragged Weasel away, focusing on the glow of her wand.

"Parkinson! We left Harry down there!" Weasley hissed, but she turned to him.

"That's the plan. We go get Draco, Potter will be fine on his own." 

He begrudgingly nodded and they followed Pansy's wand to yet another opened up grate. This one opened above a hallway, and Weasley quickly briefed her on the plan he, Malfoy and Hermione had, before they carefully moved over the opening, and continued onwards. 

~

Harry threw hex after hex at the Death Eaters surrounding him, but he was outnumbered, and quickly losing the advantage of his element of surprise. He hadn't noticed an Incarcerous thrown his way, and then, fell, as the tight ropes bound around his ankles and arms, dropping his wand upon impact. 

_Shit._

_~_

"Found them yet?" Hermione murmured over her shoulder as she dug through some dusty old cabinets. Draco made a noise of frustration which let the girl know that he'd had no luck either. This was the third room they'd searched, still with no success. That either meant that the photos were with the leader of the operation, or in some different room they were yet to upend. Every little noise made them flinch and grab their wands, but there was no alarm quite yet. A sudden sound of running footsteps snapped them out of their reveries, and they both crept to the door, listening. They shared uneasy glances. A few people were running down the hallway, straight past the room they were in, and yelling something about _'caught' _and _'finally'. _Not having a single clue what was going on, they waited until the pounding footsteps couldn't be heard anymore, before stalking out of the room, taut and ready for a battle. But none greeted them. In fact, the hall was entirely deserted of anyone. Something important must have happened to have all of them abandon what they were doing. Hermione didn't waste time dwelling on it, she was just grateful all of the attack dogs were out of their way.

"Let's search the next one." She muttered to Draco, who nodded, following her to a new door. What kind of warehouse was this? Huge vents and grates, this had to be a warehouse for something dangerous and likely toxic, and _most definitely_ magical. Perhaps Potion ingredients. There were some exceedingly dangerous and reactive ingredients after all, and storing them in large amounts was always a gamble. They entered the room, Draco letting the door click shut softly as he took a moment to observe where he and Granger were. It resembled some sort of laboratory, though it was in such a state of disrepair that it could hardly be called that anymore. It didn't matter. Draco started digging through the cabinets, just as Hermione began to open drawers and sift through old parchments littered around everyone. _Merlin, clutter was clogging up everything here. _

Then, a scrape made them both jump, and stare up at the vent in terror. They hadn't even realized one had ran into this room. A grate above them moved away, and they pointed their wands into it, expecting anything to fall out onto their heads at any moment. However when it was Ron who floated himself down, they breathed a sigh of relief, until Pansy followed right behind him, arranging the grate back into place. Draco blinked at his best friend and she glared at him.

"How did you--" He tried to ask, dumbfounded by finding her here.

"I put a tracking charm on you, you idiot. I _knew_ you'd get yourself into trouble." She hissed, and just as Ron was about to inform them that Harry was there too, he remembered Pansy's warning words: _Don't you dare tell him Potter is here or else he'll lose his mind. _He clamped his mouth shut.

"Parkinson had saved me from Cruciatus that guy had put me under. We were right, he is the one at the top, I heard one of the others refer to him as 'boss'. We came looking for you two because Parkinson had to make sure you were fine, Malfoy. I think they'll go looking for me soon though, we don't have long." Ron told them. He figured Harry was distraction enough for now for them to forget about Ron's presence among them, which bought them some time. "Found the photos yet?" The redhead asked, scanning the room quickly.

"No. I think at this point it's fair to assume that he has them." Draco mused.

"Alright. What are we waiting for then? We need to get the boss guy down, come on." Pansy rushed, not one to dilly-dally. 

~

"If it isn't Harry Potter, himself." The man leered at Harry, his yellowed teeth flashing. Harry glared at the bastard with a deep hatred. He tugged on the ropes, but they wouldn't budge. They had his wand, dammit.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" He snickered, and the raven felt rage bubble in him. He grit his teeth, defiantly keeping quiet.

"Not talking I see. Alright then, Potter, I suppose you'll be talking when we find your little friends." 

He nodded at a few of his dogs, sending them away. Harry tugged harder, the rope cutting into his skin. He eyed his wand, only a few foot away, mocking him. A hard punch landing on Harry's jaw had him spluttering to the side, disoriented for a moment. He nearly tipped over in the chair he was tied to, but managed to regain his balance.

"You'll pay for what you've done to our Lord." The man jeered, shaking his hand out. Harry tried to move his jaw, but winced. It seemed to be dislocated. He couldn't speak very well, but he forced the words out anyways:

"Voldemort? I killed him. Crushed his soul until there was nothing left." 

"You are not worthy of speaking his name!" Harry was punched again, this time flat over his nose, and he felt blood trickle onto his lip, and his glasses snap, but he didn't care. He didn't even feel the pain. All that mattered was that Ron and Pansy find Draco before those four Death Eaters did. 

~

Just as the group had made their way down the hallway, they ran straight into a troupe of Death Eaters. All it took was a second to register what had happened, and for wands to be drawn.

A vicious duel erupted.

"Hello, _Draco_." One of them leered while they threw a hex at the blonde. 

Draco's eyes flashed with fury. These bastards. He didn't stop the onslaught of jinxes and curses for a second, as his friends dueled with equally as much vigor.

Hermione really kept her promise of 'making them regret they were ever born' when she'd Sectumseptrad one of them. 

"What? Did you think Harry was the only who could do it?" She mumbled, binding the guy. 

Now Pansy wasn't the smartest with curses or jinxes, but she was smart enough to out-maneuver these slobbering, violent idiots. She had one down by a simple play of a few clever spells, and had him knocked against the floor. 

Now there were only two left.

Ron was hit with a Stupefy, and sent flying back a few feet, but it was a moot point for the two Death Eaters, because the trio unleashed a wave upon them, effectively knocking them out cold. 

Taking a few deep breaths, they stopped to assess the damage. Hermione had a few Stinging hexes over her face and neck. Draco had open cuts from the slashes he was dealt and Pansy and Ron seemed worst off. Pansy was clutching her arm, having had it twisted very painfully, and Ron was out cold.

A quick Ennervate had Ronald up and running again as they lined up the four Death Eaters against the wall, tied and gagged. Hermione scoffed:

"We can't run around like this." 

"You're right. I couldn't take another fight." Pansy agreed, winded.

"We need to glamour ourselves as them, and them as us. Then we can get to the main room in disguise, claiming we captured the intruders." Hermione explained her idea. Draco couldn't help but admire her quick thinking: 

"Yes, and we could try to coax the boss into giving us the photos." He agreed, and Pansy and Ron just nodded. They were still a bit out of it. 

A few glamours later though, they were dragging the Death Eaters through the halls, properly disguised.

~

Harry spat out blood, still refusing to say a peep to the bastard questioning him. He searched the man's clothing, eyes raking through all the folds and pockets, looking for the photos. He'd managed to focus enough of his magic wandlessly to loosen the binds, and get some sparks between his fingers. He was biding his time, waiting for the right time to strike back.

Suddenly, the door behind swung open, and in walked those same four Death Eaters from earlier, and this time, Harry was horrified to see, dragging his friends behind them. Pansy, Ron, Hermione..and Draco. He paled looking at them.

"Good job you four. Bring them here. Let's see if watching his friends writhe in pain will loosen Potter's tongue." 

Harry swallowed, but schooled his expression into one of defiance and calm. They tossed his friends at his feet and the longer Harry looked at them, the angrier he grew. How _dare_ they lay their grubby paws on these people? They had business with _Harry_, wanted revenge on _Harry,_ they bloody well had no _right_ to harm those he loved. Though, he supposed that was the point of it. There was only other time Harry had let his magic out of his own control, and that was when he was still with the Dursleys. He knew how destructive magic stemming from pure anger was, so he'd always kept his temper in check, cooling himself off before he'd slip too far.

But when their leader's foot connected with Draco's shoulder, Harry saw red.

And he let it all go. All the rage and hurt, and uncertainty, and fear, he sicked it on them all. 

_Destroy them._

A powerful crack through the air was followed by an explosion of shattering glass as all the windows of the warehouse burst. Shards of glass rained down over the Death Eaters, over Harry, cutting into him but he didn't notice it. His hands and arms were free now, the Incarcerous giving way to the first wave. He was on his feet in a second, facing the boss, snarling like a wild animal, enjoying watching the smug, self-satisfied smirk melt away from the bastard's face. He pointed his wand at Hermione meekly, and then came the second wave. This one was hot and sharp, burning over everything it touched, followed by a strong gust of wind that tossed the Death Eaters into walls and out of broken windows, their boss pathetically slamming into the door, and falling through it. Harry almost didn't notice the few dozen photographs delicately fluttering through the air. The wind must have knocked them out of wherever the leader had been keeping them. He grabbed them all, stuffing them into his jeans, before turning around the room, to notice most Death Eaters unconscious on the floor, the few that were trying to get up either failing, or getting to their feet successfully, ready to storm the raven. But he had grabbed his wand by then, and the battle was over before it began. Through the thick fog of rage and disconnect from reality, Harry blasted the third wave over the room, making everything shake violently for a few moments, and effectively crumpling those few that still had any fight in them. 

Harry made his way to the door, wand pointing straight at the boss's chest. His glare pinned the whimpering bastard to the floor:

"Who are you?" Harry asked. The man sneered, but Harry was having none of it. He sent a Stinging hex on him, and then another, and another, until the bastard answered the question between hisses of pain:

"Avery!"

That name meant nothing to Harry. Probably another of Voldemort's vermin, looking for revenge. Harry knocked him out and bound him, as he did with all the other Death Eaters there, before he realized how drained and tired he truly was. Sicking his magic might have saved them, but now, all Harry could do, was send a Patronus to the Ministry, and promptly faint.

~

Draco blinked a few times as his mind returned to him, trying to remember where he was and what happened. Everything came back to him at once, and he sat up in bed frantically, thinking about Harry and the others. He winced at the dull throb that thrummed within him and searched the other beds in the infirmary, heaving a sigh of relief when he'd found all of his friends safe and sound. There was Pansy in the bed next to his, then Hermione, then Ron and then finally, there was Harry. Draco had to admit he was taken for quite a spin when he'd walked into the main room and found Harry bleeding and bound to a chair. He'd almost given himself away then and there, but it didn't seem like it was necessary to take such measures, because Harry had lost his temper and promptly wrecked the entire place. He laid back down, wondering briefly about the photos, before he heard some sheets rustling. He turned on his side to greet Pansy when she woke up. It took the girl a good few minutes to recall everything and her first reaction was same as Draco's, panic. However, as soon as she saw everything was fine, she fell back on the bed, turning to face Draco.

"Potter's got quite the temper, huh?" She smiled, and Draco shrugged:

"Yes, he does. A dangerous one, he is." 

"I can't believe we did that." She murmured. "I can't believe we're alive."

Draco could only smile sheepishly.

"And I can't believe you thought you could take a whole lair of insane Death Eaters with Granger and Weasley on your own!" She hissed, jabbing an accusatory finger at him.

"I know, I know, but Ronald found them and I couldn't just let them get away." Draco defended himself, burying his face into the pillow.

Pansy grumbled something under her breath:

"Never do this again." 

"Depends which part you're talking about." Draco shot her a grin, much to her chagrin.

"All of it. Getting blackmailed, breaking up with your boyfriend, storming a lair of bloodthirsty beasts, the like."

"I don't make promises I can't keep." Then he realized something. "Speaking of my boyfriend, well, ex-boyfriend, I seem to recall finding him there, when he wasn't supposed to be there." His gray eyes were narrowed.

Pansy slid under the covers. Draco did not mess around when it came to Potter's health, and she honestly did not wish to ever be on the receiving end of his wrath.

"Ahem, I might've, went to him, and uh, kind of, told him, err, everything.." The girl mumbled.

"Why?" Draco's tone was cold. 

"Because he took the rest of the day off after talking to you, and hadn't come in since, and I figured he was either dead or getting there, which wouldn't do for your mental health, so I had to make sure the prat was breathing, and clean up your mess, of course." She peeked out from the covers. Eyes were still narrowed. That wasn't good.

"And?" He prompted.

"We'll skip everything about what condition I found him in and go straight to the part where we went looking for you." She blurted.

"Pans." His voice was a warning.

"_Fine._ Potter was...well, he looked like a corpse Draco. God knows when he last ate, or even moved out of his bed. I found him staring blankly up at the ceiling, his eyes were so empty. It was ghastly, and I don't need reminders, and you certainly don't need that mental image, so let's just move on shall we?" She snapped, her voice quieter towards the end. Draco sighed:

"Alright." He murmured.

It wasn't long after that that the rest of the crew started waking up. Ron was the next to join the waking realm, and he was awfully calm about everything. He simply rolled over and mumbled a greeting to Pansy and Draco, sprawled in his bed, completely relaxed.

"You seem awfully cozy for someone who was Crucioed." Pansy cocked an eyebrow. Ron shrugged:

"Malfoy and Mione needed a distraction. Besides, you and Harry got me out, so I'm fine. You must understand, Parkinson, that I've been with Harry through the entire time Voldemort was trying to kill him, so I'm much more accustomed to waking up in hospital beds than you might realize." 

Pansy grinned, rolling her eyes:

"Stop bitching, you had the most fun out of us all in school. Asides from me, teasing Draco about his unsightly crush on the Golden Boy, of course. Nothing quite matches up to that."

Draco scoffed into his pillow, and Ron just raised an amused eyebrow:

"Since school then, eh Malfoy?"

~

Hermione and Harry had taken the longest to wake up. The bushy haired girl had worn her magic out enough to need quite a bit of sleep. When she did wake up, however, she found that most of the other beds were empty, besides for Harry's. She found a figure sitting next to Harry's bed. A smile tugged at her lips. _Of course._

"You know, you're worse than me, Dray." She commented, sitting up and stretching out her languid muscles. "And that's saying something."

"Shut up Hermione." He grumpily shot back, and she laughed. 

"How are you?" She asked him.

"I'm fine. All healed up. You?" He shrugged. He wasn't really badly injured in the whole mission.

"Yeah, same. A bit sore." She agreed, observing Harry for a moment: "He's never lost it like that before. It's not good. I think he's drained himself of too much magic too quickly. Three waves? No, couldn't have been good." 

"When has this brash idiot done anything good for himself?" Draco asked, halfheartedly scowling at Harry's sleeping form.

"Literally not once. Everything he does has to put him in mortal peril, or else I assure you something is wrong." Hermione grumbled, shaking her head.

~

Harry woke up feeling very refreshed. He supposed a good, long sleep would do that to a person. He remembered what happened at the warehouse, and looked around to find he was alone in the infirmary. His friends were fine then. That was good. The next thing he'd remembered were the photos. Slowly, he sat up and reached into his jeans pocket, pulling out the stack. There were quite a few. He looked through them, and gaped at them. The Order, the Horcruxes, he couldn't believe someone had managed to make these. He kept going, until freezing at a few photos of him and Draco. There were only three, as they'd gotten together at the very end of their eighth year, so there wasn't much time to snoop on them and take pictures. Speaking of Draco, Harry swallowed a lump in his throat.

_I don't love you anymore._

Well, Pansy did say he was blackmailed by these photos, but Harry couldn't help but feel scared. He set the offending stack aside, and fixed his glasses over his nose, rolling his shoulders. He moved his jaw, only to find it just barely throbbing. The Healers of the Auror department were good. Better than good. 

A sudden weight slamming into him made him gasp for air, before he realized a head of blonde hair was burrowed into his neck. He managed a small gasp, before a smile broke out on his voice, and he wrapped his arms around Draco tightly. He felt the blonde shaking against him, so Harry rubbed soothing circles into his back, murmuring reassurances to calm him down. After a minute or so, Draco had managed to pull away, sitting back on the bed, just staring at Harry. 

"Draco? Are you alright?" Harry asked, lacing his fingers in his lap.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." The blonde nodded, rubbing his eyes. "You?" 

Harry just nodded with a small smile. He reached for the photos and he noticed how Draco stiffened. Harry outstretched his hand, offering them to the blonde.

"Here. Destroy them, or do whatever you will with them. I figured you should get the honor." Harry shrugged, and Draco took the pictures. 

He glared down at them. Before long, they'd burst into flames and Draco watched them burn with great satisfaction. The reason for his peril was no more. But..things were far from over.

"Harry.." The blonde started, trailing off. He bit his lip. "I'm sorry." He finally mumbled.

"What for? You were protecting me, love. You have nothing to be sorry for." Harry realized his slip of tongue with the pet-name, and pressed his lips in a thin line. He had no right to call Draco that anymore. He had to remember it.

The blonde wasn't looking at him, instead glaring at the ashes of those photographs that were slowly popping away, until there wasn't a trace left.

"I didn't...I didn't want the press...I remember when we came out how..." Draco attempted one sentence after another, but finished none.

"Draco, I understand. You don't owe me an apology. If anything, I'm sorry you ended up in that situation in the first place." Harry rubbed his neck. He wanted to talk about the break-up, confirm whether it was genuine or not, but he didn't know a good way to bring it up, so he skirted the issue for now.

"Right. Okay, yeah, well, uh, you're forgiven, obviously." It seemed that Draco had more to say too, but didn't have the words. Harry sighed, looking away. He reached for his glasses on his bedside, more for something to do, and noticed they were repaired. He smiled, a memory of his first time on the train. _Oculus Reparo. _The raven stuck the glasses on his nose. Not once had he though he'd end up like this when Hagrid came bustling through the door on his 11th birthday. 

"You remember everything now, right?" Draco's voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I do. It was a bitch. Felt like my head would explode." Harry confirmed, shrugging. He bit his lip. Draco just nodded. An awkward silence enveloped them, the air growing quite uncomfortable, until thankfully, Hermione and Pansy walked into the Hospital Wing, smiling at Harry. He offered a smile back.

"Harry, you're awake! How are you?" Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I feel good. How are all of you guys? I don't know much of what happened after Pansy pulled Ron out." He asked her, brows furrowing. Pansy shuffled her feet, glancing between Draco and Harry.

"Me and Weasley found Granger and Draco searching the place for those photographs." She said finally and Harry turned his eyes to face her. "Ran into some of their lot at one point too, but they didn't stand a chance." She grinned. Harry nodded, not doubting her words for a second. 

"We glamoured ourselves as them to get to the main room." Hermione mused, and Harry realized the four Death Eaters who dragged his friends in were actually his friends _in disguise_. He laughed:

"That's really smart actually." 

"Of course it is. I came up with the plan after all." The bushy haired woman scoffed indignantly, but smiled nonetheless.

"So, now what?" Pansy's eyebrows disappeared in her hairline. She was quite obviously referring to Draco and Harry, and both men just kind of looked away, shuffling under her scrutiny. "Draco. A word." She hissed under her breath, and before the blonde could protest she dragged him off of the bed and out of the infirmary, into the hallway. Hermione turned her sharp eyes on Harry then.

"What happened, Harry?" She asked. The raven sighed:

"He broke up with me. Said he didn't love me anymore. We haven't really talked about it, I don't even know what to say anyways." 

Hermione looked so _tired:_

"He was under blackmail Harry, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Harry bit his lip and pushed his glasses higher onto his nose:

"Parkinson told me that too, but I..I don't know, maybe I did something wrong. I don't want to keep him trapped with me if that's not what he..what he wants."

Hermione dropped her head into her hands, her frizzy hair falling around her. A loud, pained moan echoed from the woman.

~

"Please don't hex me." Draco whimpered when his friend's angry gaze fell upon him in the hall.

"Oh you're lucky if I don't. _Why _haven't you fixed the situation?" She asked, standing akimbo in front of him. For a small girl, she sure could be intimidating.

"It's not the right time, Pans. Besides, I can't just pretend like everything I said wasn't said." Draco admitted, running a hand through his hair.

"It'll never be the right time. Which is _exactly_ why you do it _now_. Do you really think he holds anything against you anyways? This is Potter we're talking about. He jumped down into danger to save his friend without a second thought, and you honestly thought he'd hold anything against _you_, of all people?"

"It's just.." Draco tried to justify his reluctance, but he couldn't find the right words. 

Ron had appeared then, cutting their conversation short.

"Hey you two. Is Harry awake? I came to visit him." He asked. Draco nodded at him. The redhead narrowed his eyes at Draco:

"If I go in there, and he tells me you two aren't back on snogging terms, Merlin help you Malfoy." And he entered the room. Pansy lifted an amused eyebrow:

"See? Even Weasley agrees. _Weasley_."

"I'll talk to him, alright? Just..not yet, okay?" Draco shook his head and she sighed but relented.

~

"It's been a month." Pansy clutched her cup of tea. Her and Hermione had went out to a cafe to have a cuppa and chat, and well, of course, the conversation turned to their idiotic best friends.

"I know. Harry's been miserable. He doesn't work well with his new partner. I don't know how Draco is doing, but I can't imagine he's any better." Hermione sipped her tea.

"Use your imagination. It's worse. Whenever I bring it up, he shakes me off telling me he'll do it 'soon'. I think he's still scared there's something or someone out there that could do something." Pansy murmured, staring down into her mug.

"I can understand that, but they're depressing themselves. Ron is starting to really worry too, and he's never been one for feelings and mush. It's just that, Harry has no will to do anything anymore. He misses Draco terribly, but he doesn't know how to talk to him, because he still thinks he did something wrong and all he's been trying to do is figure out what it is so he can apologize for it." Hermione twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Potter's done nothing wrong. Draco hasn't either. Neither are to blame, but it's difficult to get it through their thick skulls." Pansy scowled.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." The former Gryffindor agreed, frowning.

~

"Harry, _please_, just _talk _to him!" Ron begged for the enth time of the month. His best friend had steadily been losing any gusto he had for anything, and it broke Ron's heart to see him like that.

"I _want_ to Ron, but I don't know what to say. What if I did something wrong?"

"Mate. Listen to me when I say this, you've done _nothing_ wrong. He was blackmailed into leaving you. They wanted to hurt you Harry, so obviously they went for your biggest weakness." Ron had repeated that exact sentence so many times, he probably started muttering it in his sleep too. Why couldn't Harry just see the truth that was right in front of him? 

"I _know_, but what if there was some truth in his words? What if--"

"You know what? I'm sick of this. Of your 'what ifs'. There are no 'what ifs', Harry. You either love Malfoy or not. You'll either go after him or not. You're torturing the both of you this way, and I can't watch you like this anymore." Ron interrupted sharply, all his frustration rising out into his voice, before he turned and left the room. He couldn't believe how oblivious Harry was. Malfoy stared at him non fucking stop whenever they happened to be in the same room together, and yet Harry still thought that he'd done something wrong. He could understand Hermione's woes from back in school, as he was realizing for the first time himself how slow Harry could be. _Merlin._

~

"Draco." The black haired girl whined. This was getting ridiculous.

"No." He could predict what she was going to say, and he didn't want to hear it. 

"You don't even know what I was going to say." She pointed out.

"I do. You're going to tell me I should go talk to Harry again." Draco shot back, disappearing into their kitchen to hopefully avoid another lecture. He'd wanted to talk to Harry, tried to even, but every time the bastard walked into the room, his tongue would get tied, and he'd forget everything he wanted to say. Bloody hell he hadn't been so flustered back in school when he was pathetically pining after the guy. 

"That's because you should. It's been a month. Don't you think you've suffered enough?" She followed him into the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe, while he pretended to be busy by wiping the counters.

"I don't know what to say. I'd plan everything out, and then he'd come into the room and I just.." He trailed off, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"And I thought Hogwarts was bad.." She mumbled under her breath. "Then don't think, just go for it. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but, be a Gryffindor for once."

He snorted, shook his head.

~

Harry came into work the next morning with a new found determination. He'd been thinking, and he'd realized Ron was right. All of Harry's dawdling had gotten him nowhere, and this has been dragging about for long enough. 

"Draco. We need to talk and you're not getting out of it." Harry barged their old office, glancing to his old desk for a moment, before focusing all of his attention on the blonde man blinking up at him. Harry leaned on his desk, and stared right into the gray eyes.

"Right, okay, you're right, err, yeah, uhm, so, what about?" 

Harry swallowed a smile at how Draco stumbled over his words like a flustered puppy. He never thought he'd see the day the silver tongued Draco Malfoy stuttered, even after all the years they'd been together.

"Us. Did you mean it?" Harry asked, leaning closer. He noted the moment Draco smarted. He was silent for a few moments, and when he spoke, it was so soft, so quiet:

"No." It was just one word, just meant for Harry to hear. The raven smiled softly, for the first time of the month. He leaned in just a bit more, and pressed his lips to Draco's forehead, pulling back with a large grin:

"You have no idea how glad I am." 

Draco smiled too then, and it was the most beautiful thing Harry had ever seen.

"So you're taking me back then?" The blonde huffed, and Harry chortled:

"Well..I'll have to think about_ that_ for a bit longer. I'll let you know when I decide." He teased, pushing off of the desk, and making for the door, hiding a grin. 

Before he could reach for the doorknob however, he was spun around fiercely and pushed against the door, lips pressing to his in the following second. Harry responded immediately, winding his arms around Draco's neck. The kiss was messy, and hungry, and Harry gasped when he felt Draco nip at his bottom lip, the blonde's tongue prodding into the former Gryffindor's mouth. A soft moan escaped Harry, and he pressed Draco closer, sliding one hand into the blonde hair, tugging on the soft strands, eliciting a growl. How he'd _missed_ this, missed _Draco_. He felt the blonde's hands on his hips, pinning him to the door. Harry arched into Draco, slowly losing himself. Their lips disconnected as Draco trailed down to Harry's neck, biting and sucking, making Harry tremble and whimper. 

"_Fuck_, Harry how I've wanted you this month." The blonde groaned into Harry's neck, and Harry rutted forward, his hips jerking of their own accord.

"Missed you too-_oh_-so _much_." Harry whined low when Draco sucked rather harshly on a particularly sensitive spot.

Then the doorknob jiggled, and they broke apart abruptly, panting.

"Uh...Draco? Open the door?" Came a soft voice from the other side. It was Nott, Draco's new partner. It jiggled again, as Nott tried to push the door open. Harry had slumped against it heavily, trying to remember how to _breathe_. Draco did always have that effect on him.

"In a minute, Theo.." Draco called out, voice husky. His eyes were dilated, hair disheveled from Harry mussing it up. Harry wanted to chuckle, but his head was still spinning. He'd have a word with Nott later about cockblocking. The raven lifted a hand to his neck, feeling a bruise forming there already, and he smiled wider. He didn't mind when Draco marked him, in fact he enjoyed the possessive note it had to it. The blonde moved to look back at Harry, grinning as he moved to readjust Harry's collar, to cover the hickey, but Harry smacked his hands away, grinning mischievously:

"I want everyone to see." 

Draco's breath hitched for a moment, but he nodded and stepped away. Harry winked and moved away from the door, opening it to face a very confused Nott. He took one look at Harry, who breezed past him with a smile, and cocked an eyebrow at Draco.

"Against the door? Really? Could have used the desk at least." 

Harry heard Theo comment and chortled to himself.

~

"I want details." 

Hermione snipped in a no-bullshit tone as she sat down opposite Harry for lunch. Despite her department being quite far away from the cafeteria, she always made it a point to visit Harry on breaks. Harry blinked at her for a moment, wondering what she was talking about.

"Err, what?" He mumbled, brows furrowing. Hermione scoffed with a smile and stared pointedly at the hickey on Harry's neck. The raven realized what she meant then, and grinned, eyes twinkling:

"Pinned me to the door and snogged me senseless. Probably would've shagged me too, but Nott came knocking on the door, asking to get into his own office, the nerve of him." 

Hermione's grin grew:

"How _dare_ he. So anyways, I'm glad it went well." 

~

"Talk." 

Pansy snapped when Draco had come home after work. He barely had time to divest himself of his uniform when she rounded on him.

"What?" He asked, watching her lean her weight on one leg and cross her arms across her chest.

"You've been grinning this entire day. Your hair is completely fucked. And, last but not least, you've had a boner for half the day. So, fucking talk Malfoy." Pansy clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and much as Draco wanted to attempt to salvage his dignity, he knew she was right.

"I'm sure you know what happened already." The blonde shrugged. She rolled her eyes:

"I saw Potter showing off a particularly purple hickey, but that's hardly details now is it?"

He scoffed:

"You're such a pervert." Draco shook his head fondly.

"And you'll tell me everything regardless." She shrugged, and curse her, she was right.

~

The next day it was Draco barging into Harry's new office, completely ignoring the look Goldstein gave him. He had remembered something incredibly important and he needed to talk to Harry about it the very moment.

"Harry, I need to talk to you." He said, tapping his foot impatiently. Harry nodded and stood up, worried for a moment:

"Those words are never good coming from you." The raven murmured as he followed Draco out of his new office.

Draco worried his lip for a moment, before a gentle smile overcame him:

"I know that you were planning to propose.." 

Harry's breath caught, before he flushed and grinned:

"Yeah, I asked you about the ring, back while I couldn't remember you."

Draco pouted:

"The only way I'm saying 'yes' is if you swear to never forget me again in your vows. Otherwise you can forget about turning me into a Potter." 

Harry's grin grew wider than he thought possible, his heart bursting at the seams:

"Done." His nose scrunched up adorably when he tested out the name: "Draco Potter."

"Father is turning in his grave right now." Draco scoffed, shaking his head. "I can not believe what I let you do to me." He was smiling all the same as Harry.

"And what is that?" Harry cocked his head, crossing his arms over his chest, lips quirked upwards.

"Let you drive me insane. Under no other circumstances would I have agreed to this." Draco leaned closer, burying his head in Harry's neck. Harry laughed, uncrossing his arms as they automatically pulled the blonde closer.

"You love me." He murmured into the platinum hair.

"Bastard." The other man bit into Harry's neck. The raven shrugged:

"You're stuck with me forever, so you might as well get over it."

"You're lucky you're cute, you know." Draco pulled back, pouting. Harry kissed his pout away:

"I know. You're lucky I remembered you." 

"I'll wring your neck if you _ever_ forget me again." The blonde threatened. 

"Never." Harry assured, pressing closer to his love.

~

_Fin._


End file.
